GENEVA (AP) — A prodigal son whose Champions League-winning career stalled in Major League Soccer. A once-dominant club that has not won a league title since 2017.
Xherdan Shaqiri’s revival on leaving Chicago Fire to return to Basel this season — and his spring surge of goals — is leading the Swiss team toward its first league title in eight years.
Shaqiri’s status as talisman at his hometown club he left in 2012 to join Bayern Munich was clear with two impressive goals last weekend in a 4-0 rout at the home of traditional rival Zurich.
“It was a statement,” the 33-year-old captain said of a win that lifted Basel six points clear in what had been a multi-team title race. “Look at the result, there’s nothing more to say.”
Shaqiri’s famous left foot fired a rising shot from a tight angle, that rattled the bar and a post before hitting the net, and he scored again with a flat curling free kick.
Now with 13 goals, Shaqiri is joint top scorer in the Swiss league on a career-best total plus 14 assists in just 28 games.
One more goal when Basel hosts Yverdon on Monday and Shaqiri will tie his tally scored in 2½ years combined in MLS with Chicago Fire.
Chicago finished with a losing record in each of Shaqiri’s three seasons there and has failed to make the playoffs since 2017, the last of Basel’s eight-year run as Swiss champion.
That title streak started in Shaqiri’s debut season, 2009-10, which ended with the 18-year-old prospect going to his first World Cup.
He did not score in South Africa in 2010 though did in each of the next three World Cups, and at three European Championships from 2016 to 2024.
A standout strike against Scotland last June was Shaqiri’s only start in five games at Euro 2024 as he became less essential for an impressive Switzerland team, which lost in the quarterfinals against England on penalties.
Shaqiri scored his spot-kick, after entering as a substitute in extra time, in what was his last act for the national team in his 125th game.
He retired from the national team after the tournament and one month later agreed to terminate his Chicago contract in what the club said was “is in the best interest of all parties.”
Shaqiri soon was back at Basel, which the Kosovo-born kid first joined at age 8 and who he helped win the Swiss league in each of his first three full seasons.
After leaving Basel the first time — to be replaced by a young Mohamed Salah — Shaqiri won a Champions League winners’ medal in his first season with Bayern. He got another in 2019 with Liverpool — as Salah’s teammate — though he did not get off the bench in either final.
Basel last played in the Champions League in 2018 and will enter the qualifying playoffs in August if Shaqiri’s league-leading team can protect a six-point advantage over Servette with six rounds left.
With no more long-haul flights from the United States for national team duty, he has managed his body through the Swiss season that ends with the top half of the 12-team league splitting next week into a championship group.
“We set the pace,” Shaqiri said of a four-game winning streak in which he scored four goals. “Let’s see what the others do.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Bayern's Philipp Lahm, right, and Basel's Xherdan Shaqiri during their Champions League round of 16, 2nd leg, soccer match in Munich, southern Germany, Tuesday, March 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
FILE - Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the World Cup group G soccer match between Serbia and Switzerland, at the Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first direct peace talks in three years, both countries said Thursday, but hopes for a breakthrough remained dim after Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face in Turkey.
Zelenskyy said he is sending a team headed by his defense minister from the Turkish capital Ankara to Istanbul to meet a Russian delegation, even though Moscow's side doesn’t include “anyone who actually makes decisions.”
The Ukrainian side would be headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and its aim is “to attempt at least the first steps toward de-escalation, the first steps toward ending the war — namely, a ceasefire,” he said.
Few had expected Putin to show up in Turkey, and his absence punctured any hope of significant progress toward ending the 3-year-old war amid peace efforts in recent months by the Trump administration and Western European leaders. It also raised the prospect of intensified international sanctions on Russia that have been threatened by the West.
Zelenskyy, who flew Thursday to Ankara after challenging Putin to sit down with him, accused Moscow of not making a serious effort to end the war by sending a low-level negotiating team that he described as “a theater prop.”
His proposal to Putin came amid a flurry of maneuvering last weekend as each side sought a diplomatic advantage.
Zelenskyy said he decided to send the delegation to Istanbul to demonstrate to U.S. President Donald Trump that Ukraine wants to end the fighting.
The war has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides and more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the U.N. Russian forces are preparing a fresh military offensive, Ukrainian government and Western military analysts say.
At least five civilians were killed and 29 wounded in the past day, according to authorities in five eastern regions of Ukraine where Russia is trying to advance.
The head of the Russian delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, said in Istanbul that the representatives were ready to meet Ukrainian officials.
“The task of these direct negotiations with Ukraine is to establish long-term peace sooner or later by eliminating the root causes of this conflict,” he said in a brief statement.
It was not clear when they would meet. Medinsky said late Thursday that the Russian delegation would be waiting for Ukrainian officials at 10 a.m. Friday.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would confer Friday in Istanbul with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and the Ukrainian delegation, adding that the Russian delegation would be meeting with other members of the U.S. team and that he hoped all sides could get together.
“We don’t have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow. And frankly, at this point, I think it’s abundantly clear that the only way we’re going to have a breakthrough here is between President Trump and President Putin,” Rubio told reporters in Antalya, Turkey, where he was attending a NATO foreign ministers meeting.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier welcomed Zelenskyy to the presidential palace in Ankara for their own talks. Zelenskyy heads Friday to Albania for a gathering of European officials.
The diplomatic maneuvering began Saturday when European leaders met Zelenskyy in Kyiv and urged the Kremlin to agree to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a first step toward peace. Putin responded early Sunday by proposing direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul. Then came Zelenskyy's challenge to Putin for face-to-face talks.
After days of silence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov finally said Thursday that Putin had no plans to travel to Istanbul in the next few days.
Trump said he was not surprised that Putin was a no-show. He had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet but brushed off the Kremlin leader’s decision not to attend.
“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump told reporters in Doha, Qatar, on the third day of his visit to the Middle East.
Trump said a meeting between him and Putin was crucial to breaking the deadlock.
“I don’t believe anything’s going to happen whether you like it or not, until (Putin) and I get together,” he said on Air Force One while traveling from Doha to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. “But we’re going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying.”
Peskov said Putin has no plans to meet with Trump in the coming days.
Medinsky, Putin's aide, is leading the Russian team that also includes three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks in Istanbul.
Also absent from the talks were Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, both of whom represented Russia at talks with the U.S. in Saudi Arabia in March.
The top-level Ukrainian delegation included Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian official said. Zelenskyy will sit at the negotiating table only with Putin, said presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.
Putin met Wednesday with senior government officials and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Peskov said. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov and National Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu attended.
The Kremlin billed the Istanbul talks as a “restart” of peace negotiations held there in 2022 that quickly collapsed. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting, while Kyiv said Russia’s demands amounted to an ultimatum, not something both sides could agree on. That delegation also was also headed by Medinsky.
Putin's proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kick-started by Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the war swiftly, although it's been hard to pull off. The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated it might walk away from the effort if there was no tangible progress soon.
Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, met with Rubio and Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday night in Antalya.
Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine’s support for Trump’s mediation efforts and thanked the U.S. for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to “reciprocate Ukraine’s constructive steps” toward peace. "So far, it has not,” Sybiha said.
On Thursday morning, Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers, including his French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot, who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of “massive sanctions” if Russia doesn't comply.
“We’re in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future," Rubio said Thursday.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Putin of “standing in the way of peace.”
“There was only one country that started this conflict — that was Russia. That was Putin. There’s only one country now standing in the way of peace — that is Russia. That is Putin,” he said in a visit to Tirana, Albania.
Barrot echoed that sentiment: “In front of Ukrainians, there is an empty chair, one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,” he said. Putin "is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions.”
Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels; Illia Novikov and Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; Aamer Madhani in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Matthew Lee in Antalya, Turkey, contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Airport workers prepare a carpet before arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Russian presidential aide, Vladimir Medinsky, gives an statement to journalists at the Russian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks to journalists at the Ukrainian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks to journalists at the Ukrainian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
In this handout photo released by Turkish Presidency, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their meeting at the Presidential palace in Ankara, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Turkish Presidency via AP)
Ayse Sahil, whose family emigrated from Bolshevik in Russia, holds a board near Dolmabahce palace where talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)
Turkish security members stand guard at Dolmabahce palace where talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walks down the stairs from his plane upon his arrival at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gestures to journalists as he leaves upon his arrival at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks to journalists as he arrives at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Ukrainian official plane, background, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on board lands at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on forthcoming Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on forthcoming Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
